Travel and Tourism Services

7/29/2019 Travel and Tourism Services

1/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We are greatly indeed to our honorable teacherMrs. Aparna Jain for all his encouragementsupport and facilities strength in getting thisproject to its present stage.

Developing any project is not an easy job. Itneeds lots of human efforts, dedication andtogetherness among the people involved in it.

These things mean a lot only when there is strongdriving force and continuous support behind theteam in every stage of development. This drivingforce and support in our case was by our ownproject guide: Mrs. Aparna Jain

We would like to thank our parents for providing us

with all their support and encouragements rightfrom the projects budding stage to its currentmaturity.

Above all we would like to thank the almighty forgiving us courage and energy to work day & nightto make this project the grand success.

Service Sector Management


2/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM


Service concept:

According to US govt. establishment primarily providing a widerange &variety of service for individual business and governmentestablishments and other organization hotels and other lodgingsplace, establishment providing personal services, repair andamusement service, educational institution, membership organizationand other miscellaneous services

On the basis of the classification made by US government, it is clearthat different types of service are an important base for the service

establishment offering services to both categories of customers, theindividual as well as the organization. It also focus on theorganization offering social services where hospitals or Medicare orhealth center, communication organization, education institution arefound important.

Service marketing:

The perception of service marketing focuses on selling the service inthe best interest of user /customer with a change in the perception ofmanagement, we witnessed multi faceted changes which necessitateand analogous change in the concept of service marketing. Theservice generating organization released the interest of customer andtheir after they were compel to assign the interest of society in theconcept of service management.

Marketing a service is meant marketing something intangible. It is amarketing a promise. It is more of selling yourself. We cant deny thefact that selling of promise complicates the task of marketer sincethey find it difficult to identify the stage or time where the servicestarts degenerating or where the promised fall. In the marketing ofservice we go through a number of problems directly or indirectly

influencing the business index .the problems like marketsegmentation ,market information system ,behavioral managementare studied minutely with simplify the task of formulating a soundmix for marketing such as product mix, promotions mix, price mixand place mix. It is important to mention that we find people animportant mix of marketing service.



3/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM

The following key points regarding the concepts or perception of servicemarketing are:-1) It is managerial process of managing the service

2) It is organized effort for providing a sound foundation for thedevelopment of an organization

3) It is a social process helping an organization to understand theimmerging social problem and to take part in the socialtransformation to justify it existence in society.

Introduction:

Tourism in India has received a major boost in the past decade sinceIndian Government realized the great potential of tourism in India.Tourism in India is growing leaps and bounds with great influx oftourists from throughout the world who have been irresistiblyattractive to the travelers. India has the right tourism potential andattractions to attract all types of tourists whether it is adventuroustour, cultural exploration, pilgrimages, visit to the beautiful beaches orto the scenic mountain resorts, Tourism in India has it all for you.Travel through Indian states and cities bring to light, the cultural andthe geographical richness of India. We provide you a glimpse to therichness of tourism in India with information on all the major tourist

destinations of India and tourism services of India that will take care ofall your problems while you are in India.

With the passage of time, the tourism has become a part of our normallife. It is virtually a mask phenomenon. It has grown to such an extentthat we consider it an important industry contributing substantially tothe national economy vis--vis foreign exchange reserve. Thepromotion of tourism as an industry serve multi- pronged interest, suchas promoting our art and culture, preserving our cultural heritage ,interaction between different religions, exchange of views, enrichmentof knowledge, generation of foreign exchange and so on. It is against

this background that tourism organization like Global TouristOrganization, Pacific Area Travel Association, International Union ofOfficial Travel Organization etc. have been found promoting thetourism industry. We find this industry an economic bonanza. It is alsoconsider being a potential force for making possible world peacethrough mutual appreciation and international understanding. Thesuccess of tourist industries is considerably influenced by consumerorientation which is necessities integrated development of all related



4/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM

component like transportation, travel agent, hotel communication,tourist guide, etc.

In

Indian contest we find this industry in a critical condition because

the amalgamating component lacks world class excellent and thepolicy makers appears least interested in making them competitive.Our contribution to the world tourism is 0.72%. Thus we make thetourist spots a point of attraction and promote with the support ofinnovative device which help us in projecting our positive image. It isright to mention that image problems have been playing a negativerole in the development of tourism industries in India.

We have attracted tourist centers, world class hotels, mostsophisticated communication facility, rich culture heritage modern

transportation facility but nothing can attract tourist if we find a threatto their safety and security.

Roles and functions of Department of Tourism are:

Formulating national policies and programmers Co-ordination and supplementing the efforts and activities of variousCentral Government Agencies, State /Union TerritoriesGovernments Catalyzing private investments Strengthening promotional and marketing efforts Providing trained manpower resources Developing infrastructure Conducting research and analysis

Emerging key points

1) Tourism is the temporary movement of people2) It is a pleasure activity3) It is unremunerative4) It is the totality of relationship5) It is multi-segment composite industry



5/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM

Tourist- the concept

The origin of the word Tourist dates back to 1292 AD it has comefrom the word tour. A number of experts have defined the term.

Tourist are the voluntary temporary travelers, traveling in exceptionsof pleasure from novelty and change experienced on the relativelyands non recurrent round trip19th century dictionary defines tourist as a person who travels forpleasure of traveling out of curiosity and because he has nothingbetter to do.

Tourists are not to be tourist:-

Tourists are:

1) Person traveling for pleasure, domestic reasons, health.2) Person traveling to convention.3) Person traveling for business purposes.4) Person arriving in course of sea cruise.

Not to be tourist:

1) Person arriving with or without a work to take up an occupation2) Person coming to establish a residence in the country3) Students in boarding4) Persons domiciled in one country and working in adjoining

country5) Persons passing trough a country without stopping

Motive behind travel:

An important question in the tourism is concerned with themotivational forces influencing the traveling decision of potentialtourist there are a good number of motivators influencing our travelingdecisions, e.g. Physical motivators, cultural motivators, interpersonalmotivators status and prestige motivators. The instrumentality of allthis motivators becomes effective in activating transformation process.

1) Speeding up learning cycles: - The traveling decision areinfluenced by ambition of potential tourist to speed up theirlearning cycles or to enrich their knowledge or information bank.This factor is found significant in the western countries where toknow the detail regarding the way and styles of living or towitness the technological advances or to view the socially eventand festivals, the traveling decision are frequently made.



6/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM

2) Cultural exchange: - In most of the cases, the travelers travelwith the motto of witnessing the site of cultural sites andattending the cultural functions. Human beings in general have acuriosity to learn something from others. They also travel withthe motto of gaining a better understanding taking placeelsewhere. World culture heritage and national culture heritagethus attract people for traveling.

3) Gaining pleasure: Development of monotony, particularly on aaccount of busy life in a natural phenomena. This influences ourefficiency in our adverse way. Hence we also travel to gainromantic and exotic experience by doing such, we pave waysgenerating efficiency.

4) Ethnic Consideration: - The family and the relatives alsoinfluence us to make the traveling decisions. We prefer to visitthe places where our relation live or lived in the past. Hence thetraveling decision are influenced by ethnic consideration sincecaste, race and genetic consideration dominate thetraveling decisions.

5) Health consideration: - Some of the places are found suitablefor health since the climatic or atmospheric conditions are foundsound. Travelers in general and the patients in particular attendsuch places either to enjoy places either to enjoy or to recover.

6) Spiritual and Regional: - We often prefer to visit spiritual andreligious places. The pilgrimages to scared places have beentaking places since a long time in almost all parts of the globe,this practice is wide spread.

INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATION AND CONVENTIONS:

The demand for international collaborations in tourism grew after theFirst World War.International Union of Official Travel Organizations (IUOTO). The IUOTOwas formed in 1947. Then it was the only international organization



7/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM

that brought together the government and all other official touristorganizations all over the world and it was granted consultative statusby the U.N.O.The IUOTO also functioned as a clearinghouse,conducted training programmers etc. India joined the IUOTO in 1950.

The main objectives of IUOTO were:

Promotion of economic development of countries by providingtourism.

To make effective the social and cultural role of tourism in thelife of the people.

Informing the members regularly about the results of marketresearch.

To highlight the values of tourism as a means of promotinginternational understanding and world peace.

World Tourism Organization:

The WTO was formed in 1975 with the following objectives:

The Organization shall aim to promote and develop tourism.

The Organization will establish and maintain effectivecollaboration with organs and agencies of the UN.

It will conduct and arrange international conferences andseminars to bring about interaction between the nations andtheir travel agencies.

To promote vocational training programmers.

The headquarters of WTO are in Madrid (Spain). It has three categories

of members:

(i) Full Members

(ii) Associate Members

(iii) Affiliate members.



8/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM

The three main organs of WTO are;

(1) The General Assembly.

(2) The Executive Council.

(3) The Secretariate India is a full Member of the WTO.

International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO):

It was organised on April 4,1947 as a specialised agency of the UN. It

has a membership ofover 130 governments. The headquarters of ICAO is at Montreal,Canada and regional offices are in Mexico City, Lima, Paris, Dakkar,Cairo and Bangkok. The main objectives are:

Ensure the safe and orderly growth of International civil aviationthroughout the world.

Encourage the development of airways, airports and navigationalfacilities.

Prevent economic waste.

Meet the needs of the people of the world for safe, regular,efficient and economical air transport,

Promote safety of flight.

International Air Transport Association (IATA):

If is the world organisation of the scheduled airlines.

For the airlines IATA provides machinery for rinding joint solutions tothe problems beyond the resources of any single company despite thedifference of language/ currency, laws etc.



9/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM

For the government its acts as a medium for co-ordinatinginternational rates and fares.For the public IATA ensures high standard of operations at aconcessional and fair rate.

Membership is open to any airline. Active members operateInternational air route and associate members operate domestic routesonly.

Factor developing Tourism:

The factor developing tourism are classified as Natural, Socio Economicand Political Factors.

1) Natural Factor:

National:Location space, scenery, climate, animal life constitute to thenatural factor. Among these landscape and climate are the mostimportant. The main attraction of people are the mountains, hills,lacks, forests, coastal Beaches, cool weather etc. Himalayas inIndia, Kovalam beach in Kerala, Puri in Orissa and many other areasattract people.

International:Florida in USA, West Indies island, Blackpool and Brighton in UK,Rimuni in Italy and Mauritius in Africa are some of famous sea-sideattraction. Skating, skiing, and Mountaineering conducted by manysports center attract tourist in large number. The scenic beauty,Switzerland with the hills side lack side resorts at Montreaux,Geneva and Lugano is a major tourist attraction.

2) Socio- Economic Factor:

National:Tourism promotes national integration and creates employmentopportunities. India has a rich cultural past. Taj-Mahal,Hawamahal, Bibi Ka Makabra, artistic stone carvings in thetemples, Ajanta, Ellora, pilgrimages places like Varanasi,Badrinath, Tirupati etc. attract tourist from all over India.

International:



10/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM

Some center like Rome in Italy, London, Paris, Scotland, Portugal,Sweden, Middle East, Africa, California etc have their distinctfeatures which attract tourist in large number.

3) Political Factor:

National:Tourism is generously promoted by the Indian Government,which helps to improve commercial relation with other countries.Due to the instable political grounds in India tourism is still lowebb. Major tourist attraction places like Kashmir, Punjab, Assametc. which are now under the effect of terrorism have created anegative climate for the tourist.

International:Tourism has developed to a great extent in the Western world.

The stability of their political power has given a boost to tourism.A country with a very instable government or political powercannot glamour to its full extent.

TOURISM - A STRATEGIC ANANLYSISPEST ANALYSIS

POLITICAL/LEGALThe Indian tourism industry is built on the backbone of Government

support and the industry cannot sustain itself without it. The variousarchaeological sites and the places of historical importance, the roadsand the railways are all in the hands of the Government.

All the support services like the hotel industry; the airlines industry andthe tourist operators to name some are heavily dependent on thesupport and the cooperation of the Government. The major reason asto why the tourist visits India is for the vast and rich heritage that thecountry has.

That is under the control of the Government, through the

Archaeological Survey of India. Any policy change that comes intoforce can have dramatic effect on the way the industry playersperform.

For example, the Government charges a high rates of taxes onthe luxury and the star category hotels and this has alwaysbeen a cause of disagreement between the hotel associationsand the Government.



11/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM

ECONOMICThe tourism industry not unlike the other industries grows with the

increase in the spending of the people. The more the people spend themore the industry grows. The spending power of the people has beenincreasing in the country and all over the world.

Since India is concentrating on the international tourists, the largeincrease in the spending power in most developed countries has left alarge amount of idle cash in their hands. This has lead to the tourismboom the world over and India has been no exception.

SOCIALTourism was always looked upon as something that always leads to thedestruction of the social fabric of a place. The more the amount ofoutside people coming into a place, the more the risk of that placesloosing its identity. Those places that have been able to strike abalance between their own culture and the demands of theinternational tourist have profited handsomely. The examples areKerala and Rajasthan.

People are now adopting themselves to the fact that tourism pays andit can be a major source of income for them. Even people themselveshave started travelling. In addition, tourism as a form of recreation has

really caught on. People are willing to travel to a place that is out ofway and exotic. When previously travelling on a holiday meant goingto a hill stations and beach, now people are willing to go in foradventure tourism as well as visit places that cannot be really becalled hospitable.

TECHNOLOGICALTechnology although does not seem to be a major influence at the firstglance, still it plays a major part in the promotion of a place. Bettercommunication facilities are one of the first prerequisites for growth in

the inflow of tourists.

This has been made possible with technology. Better technology in thefield of communication with cheaper costs have seen many remote andinaccessible areas of the country get connected to the rest of theworld. This connectivity has made these places visible to the world.Better communication means access to media.



12/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM

Similarly better transportation facilities have lead to a dramaticincrease in the number of tourists visiting any particular place. Thepresence of an airport and the availability of frequent flights are agreat convenience to any traveller.

TOURISM INDUSTRY - SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGTHS India's geographical location.A culmination of deserts,forests, mountains, andbeaches. Diversity of culture i.e. ablend of various civilizationsand their traditions. A wealth of archeological sitesand historical monuments.

WEAKNESSES Lack of adequateinfrastructure. A xenophobic attitude amongcertain sections of people. No proper marketing ofIndia's tourism abroad.Foreigners still think of India asa land of snake charmers.

OPPORTUNITIES More proactive role from thegovernment of India in terms offraming policies.

Allowing entry of moremultinational companies intothe country giving us a globalperspective.

Growth of domestic tourism.

THREATS Economic conditions andpolitical turmoil in othercountries affects tourism. Aggressive strategiesadopted by other countries likeAustralia, Singapore inpromoting tourism.

COMPOSITION OFTOURISM INDUSTRY

Major industries that support tourism industry are depicted in thediagram below. These facilities decide the status of a place in atourist's portfolio. They on one hand attract tourists to a particular



13/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM

destination and on the other act as a major demotivating factor if theyare unable to fulfill the expectations of the visitors.

A

three-point plan may be considered to realize the full potentialof tourism. In a word the strategy for effectively tackling thecause of tourism is AIM.

SEVEN PS OF MARKETING MIX

PRODUCT:

The tourism product which is mainly destination (tangible) can only be experienced(intangible). The panoramic view of the location (destination), travel to the destination,

the accommodation & facility as well as entertainment at the destination all forms thetourism product. Thus tourism is a composite product combination of attraction, facilities

& transportation. Each of these components has its own significance in the product mix

& in absence of even one single component, the product mix is incomplete.


'A'- 'Awareness'

Within the community there must be awareness of the potential of tourism and its role as an instrument

for promoting economic development and social change. The tourist must also have the satisfaction of

being welcomed and getting satisfaction on all points of popular contact in the host country.

'I' CREATING 'INFRASTRUCTURE'

The industry's own perception and suggestions must be sharply focused - highlighting the special needs

of the international and domestic traveler by providing adequate transport, accommodation and other

backup facilities.

'M' 'Marketing'

Apart from creating awareness at home it is required to create awareness abroad i.e. what India was like

(its 5000 year old heritage), what India is like (liberalization and globalization) and what India will be

like in the future (envision - preferred destination). We should concentrate on research and identify

source markets. The bottom line is to work out a coordinated action plan for all the three components of

AIM.

HOTELSHOTELS

TRAVEL AGENTS &

TOUR OPERATORS

TRAVEL AGENTS &

TOUR OPERATORS

AIRLINEAIRLINE

DESTINATIONSDESTINATIONSCOMPOSITIO

N


14/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM

Attraction of the destination, include:

Natural site: Beach resorts, hill stations.

Places of historical interest: Monuments, archeological sites and museums.

Events: Trade fair, musical festival, games, etc.

Cultural attractions: History & folklore, theatre, religion, arts, etc.

The facilities compliment attraction. These make it possible for the tourist to stay &

enjoy the attraction.

Accommodation: Hotel, Hostel, Campsites.

Food: Restaurants, Cafes, Bars.

Local transport: Taxis, Coaches.

Recreational facilities: Entertainment, Sport Activity, Shopping facilities.

Accessibility is the means by which the tourists arrive at the location as without the

transportation facility the attraction is of no use.

Infrastructure: Roads, Rail, Airport, etc.

Equipment: Speed & Size of the vehicle.

With increasing number of destination, travel methods & choice of accommodation, thefirm offers these products in the form of package tours to facilitate consumers to choose

from the combinations. These package tours cater to varying tastes, economy, attitudes &

the need for exclusive service. The idea that service products are intangible is an

important one, but increasingly firms are trying to make their offering more tangible, andthereby increasing their recognition amongst the target-buying group. Tangible gifts such

as toiletries, flight bags, even bath robes bearing the companies logo or brand name.

Eg. Lufthansa &Jet Airways provide customers with the earphones or headphones, toys,

magazines etc. which helps in giving a tangible aspect to service provided.

Branding plays a very important role in tourism marketing. Hotel chains, airlines, &

travel operators in particular employ tremendous efforts to ensure that their name is

widely recognized & synonymous with quality, value etc. Product positioning helps inidentifying the images & perceptions of the tourist products as well as tourists

organizations, which match the needs of the tourist customers.

PRICING:



15/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM

Pricing of the tourist product is a complex matter because of its composite nature.Geographical location of the destination effects pricing decisions. Other factors like

seasonality & varying demand cannot be overruled.

The objective of pricing of any firm is to fetch a target market share, to preventcompetition, and to take care of the price elasticity of demand. Prices in travel & tourismare operated in 2-levels. First level contributing to marketing strategy, which concerns

with the product positioning, value for money, etc. the second level corresponds to the

marketing operation or tactics where the prices are manipulated to match current demand

and competition.

Other methods of setting up pricing in Travel & Tourism:

Cost based pricing: for a business or service in the long run, the average prices

charged must be sufficient to cover fixed cost & variable costs and also assure a

reasonable return on investment.

Demand based pricing: the strength of demand for a product or what the market

will bear is evident in the pricing behavior of many leisure industries. Moreover,demand based pricing will suit, as tourism is greatly affected by seasonal

characteristics. At peak times many leisure facilities have excess demand, tourism

firms use high price as a tactic.

Competition based pricing: it sets the upper limit within which the prices must

be set. Prices outside this limit sets off an elastic demand reaction as consumerswitch to competing products. In case of new tourism product, if the strategic

objective is market penetration, then prices must be set very competitive to attractmore potential customers. In the case of niche marketing the prices should portray

this aspect complimented with additional benefits of service offer.

PLACE:

Infrastructure facilities, Transportation, Communication are important for thedevelopment of a tourist centre.



16/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM

The major decision that the tourism marketer takes regarding distribution is

relating to the Channel Choice and Channel Members.

The two major functions performed by the distribution system in tourism

marketing are:

To extend the number of points of sale or access away from the location

at which services are performed or delivered.

To facilitate the purchase of service in advance.

The middleman may be a tour operator, who is the wholesalers, who buy tourism

products in bulk and make them available to travel agents who are retailers. The range of

tourist products which are bought by the tour operators are airline seats, hotel

accommodation, bus for local sight seeing, etc. They may also sell directly to customers.

Following diagram shows the channel of distribution in tourism industry-

PROMOTION

Creation of awareness is an important factor in the formulation of marketing mix for

the tourism industry. The aim of promotion fall into three main categories:

To inform


Tourism product

Accommodation

Tour operator

Travel agent

CUSTOMER

TransportationAttraction


17/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM

To remind and

To persuade

It will always be necessary to inform prospective customers about new products andservices, new uses, price changes, information to build consumer confidence and to

reduce fears, full descriptions of service offerings, image building (of destinations)

etc.

Some of the important aspects of advertising are-

Advertising and sales promotion these activities are very effective whensupplemented by publicity and personal selling. Advertising messages range from

subtly attractive visual messages and symbols designed to appeal and stimulate

travel desires and needs, to simple sales announcements drawing attention to

specific product offers.

Most travel and tourism advertising is aimed at consumer or the travel trade

aiming specifically on a tourist product but large organizations like airlines andhotel groups also buy media space to communicate the name and image of the

organization as a whole.

Public relations and publicity- This include regular articles and photographs ofthe tour attraction, use of TV, radio holiday program and travel journalists to promote

editorial comments.

Word of mouth- research shows that about 80% of the tourists visiteddifferent places on the persuasion of their friends and relatives and also their own

judgment. This indicates word-of-mouth promotion is an important tool in tourism

marketing.

Incentives - Incentives to agents, customers and sales force are also given

to induce immediate response like-price cuts, discount vouchers to use certain

facilities in the location, free gifts, price draws etc.

Brochures- these are provided by the tour operators to stimulatecustomers and motivate them to buy. They are used to demonstrate in pictures and

words the image and positioning of the product and organizations.

New concept in promotion-PIPELINE PROMOTION


Hotel owners and airlines need to promote their services to tour operators who are in

effect wholesalers of travel services and products as well as promoting their service to

end users and independent travellers. Similarly tour operators will want to ensure that


18/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM

PHYSICAL EVIDENCE

The tourist spot, which is an experience for the customer, is tangibilised with the help oftangible items like-

Comfortable seats while travelling, ambience, layout, and design of the resort,natural service-scape etc.

The sign posts that indicate directions, route maps, information regarding rules and

regulations of the tourist spot and the sign regarding the public utilities like toilets,telephone booth.

Printed matter such as brochures also play a important role in the development oftourism. As the product in tourism is intangible, there is a need to describe fully the

product, which is done by providing an elaborate brochure which slows how different

elements of the program are carefully planned to include all necessary information tomake a holiday comfortable.

The brochure is a product at the point of purchase; it establishes expectation of

quality value for money, product image and status, which must be matched when theproduct is delivered.

PROCESS

The operation process of the tourism firm depends on the size of the tourism firm. Thesequential steps involved in the delivery of the tourist product are:



19/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM

Provision of travel information: the information regarding the travel is provided at a

convenient location where the potential tourist seeks clarifications about his proposed

tour.

Preparation of itineraries: it is a composition of series of operations that arerequired to plan a tour.

Liaison with providers of services: before any form of travel is sold over the counter

to a customer, contracts have to be entered with the providers of various services

including transportation companies, hotel accommodation, coaches for local sight-seeing etc.

Planning and costing tours: once the contracts and arrangement are entered intothen comes the task of planning and costing the tour, this will depend on the tour

selected as well as individual requirements.

Ticketing: the computerized reservation system has in recent years revolutionized the

reservation system for both air & rail travel.

Provision of foreign currency & insurance: in case of foreign travel the final task isto provide foreign currency as well as insurance.

PEOPLE

Tourism is highly people oriented industry. People here serve as both input as well asoutput.

As input, people work as drivers, hotel managers, waiters, travel agents etc.

People after visiting destinations become output (tourists) for the industry. Input

people are most important from marketing point of view.

Output people (tourists) being from heterogeneous socioeconomic, religious and

cultural backgrounds have diverse needs, wants, tastes and attitudes. It depends on thededication of the service people (input) how efficiently they can cater to the needs of

tourists.

Examples of input people are: -

The airline and transportation crews interact with the customers while travelling.

The resort or hotel representatives cater to the needs of the tourist when they reach

the destination.



20/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM

The tourist guides who interact with the tourist while visiting various

places.

These contact personnel must be trained well on interpersonal skills as well asproduct knowledge.

A satisfied tourist is the most powerful marketing tool. Hence, at the outset while

planning marketing efforts the organization must ensure that it has well trained and

qualified service people.

PACKAGING:

Packaging plays a very important role in attracting the attention the prospective

customers towards the service in Travel and Tourism. The packaging includes all theelements offered in a tour package by the tour operator. It includes the kind of destination

chosen, booking of the tickets, mode of transport, company, the Hotel, Accommodation,

etc.

Example-The tour packages designed by Thomas Cook are one of the exclusive

packages offered amongst other tour operators because of the above mentioned attributes.

Hence people prefer their packages to a great extent and remain loyal to it.

THE DESTINATION PRODUCT



21/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM

Total Product Concept


Core product

Formal

Augmented

Future


22/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM

Core

pro

duct

The basic

benefit

An experience providing an insight into a different culture, tradition

and lifestyle.

FormalThe

expected

benefit

Comfort during the tour; instruction manual provided for better

understanding of the places of visit; brand name eg. Kerala known

as Gods own country; quality assurance and TQM eg. Kerala

has quality assurance and TQM implemented for all its products

(backwater life and habitats and traditional houseboats), services and

facilities. This implies it has complete cleanliness in its surroundings

and eco-tourism is also assured.

Augmented

In addition

to the

expected

benefit

Providing the tourist with guide cassettes and also an interpreter to

increase interactivity and understanding. Eg tours to historical and

archeological sites requires elucidation, which can be ensured

through the mentioned means; serving multi-purpose tourism, i.e.

forming a chain of destination, circuit theme by cuddling different

states. Eg 1 educational circuit, business circuit, pilgrimage circuit,

beach circuit Kerala backwaters, Goa, TamilNadu. Eg 2 -

Rendezvous with Maharashtra and the Mughals.

Future

Beyond the

usual,

serendipity

(pleasant

surprise)

An experience through which a tourist gets physically invigorated,

mentally rejuvenated, culturally enriched and spiritually

elevated. Eg The New Rajasthan Gift: Palace On Air. British

Airways will convert its 70-seater Boeing into a flying palace with

all possible luxuries flavored with the Rajasthani ambience. Tourists

(who will be treated as Kings) will tour Rajasthan in Limousines (one

for each) and will have personal assistants Darbaris to take care of

every need.

Services: A Game of Promises


External marketingMaking promisesInternal marketing

Enabling promises

States Tourist

TourismDepartment of

India

InteractivemarketingKeeping promises


23/42

India a land of ancient

culture, heritage and

civilization with majesticmountains, beautiful beaches,

wonderful wildlife,

enchanting bird sanctuariesand satiated with great

treasures of art, architecture

and philosophical thought.

TRAVEL & TOURISM

External marketing:The Tourism Department of India makes

promises to the tourists about the varieddestination products benefits andexperiences using different media internet,travel & tour shows, advertisements innewspapers, road shows, etc. This createsawareness for the tourist (domestic & foreign)and he is inveigled by it.


Kerala Gods own country

Only Indian state to win award in PATA (Pacific Asia

Travel Association)Tourist attractions beaches, hill stations, forests,

waterfalls, plantations, tropical islands, ayurvedic

health centres and historic monuments.Standardization & quality assurance is stressed and

TQM implemented for all products, services and

facilities.


24/42

Ajanta Ellora Cave Complex

2 kilometres from the caves, an

elegant tourist centre, with

modern amenities and properparking facilities is being

constructed. A shopping centre

and an interpretation-cum-

information centre is also comingup.

TRAVEL & TOURISM

Tourists:The customers are the tourists (domestic as well as foreign) who tourvarious destinations with different purpose

Internal marketing:The Tourism Department has to consider many factors to ensurethat individual states (providers) are able to keep the promises(meet the expectations of tourist) made by them. This means theTourism Department enables promises by performing differentactivities and committing plans.

To meet the promises, it is necessary for the GOI to enable the TourismDepartment by the following facilities:

Infrastructure: The infrastructural problems relating to water,electricity, road, clean accommodation, healthy and pleasant

environment near the tourists sites should be completelyeliminated.

Taxes: The tax structure should be reformed. India is the highesttaxed country for tourist. The rates of luxury tax, expendituretax, leisure tax, service tax should be slashed drastically. Atmany places there are as many as 23 taxes levied on a hotel.The taxes make the destinations expensive and uncompetitive inthe long run.

Regulations: Specific regulations should be passed to avoidcities being encroached, water bodies polluted and monumentsbeing surrounded by slums, stray cattle, beggars and touts.

Disjointed approach: There is lack of co-operation betweenministries tourism, civil aviation, external affairs, culture andurban development. Effective linkages have to establishedbetween them

The positive steps taken towards tourism development are

The Union Budget for tourism has doubled its investment fromRs. 100 crores to Rs. 200 crores.

The Government has also approved a raise in promotionalexpenditure

To serve multi purpose tourism, every state is cuddled togetherto form a chain of destinationtheme.

Infrastructure up gradation

Formation of Trade PromotionCouncil



25/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM

Interactivity marketing:

Finally, the individual states have to keep the promises made by theDepartment of Tourism. This is the place where all aspects of quality or the lack of it is perceived by the tourist.

The entire tour could be termed as futile even if little discomfort isexperienced by the tourist during transportation, accommodation orsight seeing. The providers (state authoritiesfor tourism) have totake every care to avoid such occurrence. They are assuring this byimprovising on the following facilities:

Efficient transport system for tourist when they are for a tourwithin the state

High quality hotels with first-rate service provided by them.

Professional guides placed at educational sites historicalplaces, archeological sites, art galleries, etc



26/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM

AIRLINE INDUSTRY

Airports are the primary infrastructure facility that a country has tooffer to the international tourists. It would be surprising to note thatrenowned tourists destinations like Jaipur and Goa do not have aninternational airport.

Foreign guests, who constitute more than 60% of the tourists destinedfor these cities, currently have to travel via Mumbai, unless they are

ready to charter a flight. This makes things cumbersome and timeconsuming, thus discouraging many time conscious tourists fromvisiting these places. Similar is the case of cities like Agra, Udaipur andVaranasi where foreign tourists account for approximately 50% of thetotal tourists arrival.

SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGTH

Airline is the most preferredmode of transportation by theforeign tourists as theconvenience provided by theairlines is higher. The savings in time that thismode of transport offers isimmense.

WEAKNESSES

Inefficiency of the domesticairlines- there are number ofinstances of flight beingcancelled or delayed. Lack of basic facilities at theairport. Government does not allowthe capacity of existing airports



27/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM

to increase private and foreignoperators are not givenclearances to operate in thecountry.

OPPORTUNITIES

As the tourism industryexpands the airline industry isalso in for a boom. Development and upgradation of the presentairports India's geographic locationmakes it an ideal location toserve as a link between theEast and the West.

THREATS

Domestic airlines (Air Indiaand Indian Airlines) face majorcompetition from othertransnational airlines.

The Airline Product:

Core product The basic benefitTransportation ,serving

food drinks ,staff



28/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM


FormalThe expected

Cleanliness, timely

flights, polite and

courteous behavior,

safety

AugmentedIn addition to the

expected benefit

Comfortable seats,

smiling employees, on

par with international

standards

FutureBeyond the usual,

serendipity (pleasantsurprise)

Welcome flowers,

managers word of

thanks, entertainment

shows to delight and

surprise the travelers on

the flight


29/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM

Services: A Game of Promises

Jet Airways : From small beginnings in 1993 ,today the airline carriesaround 17,000 passengers daily on a fleet of 36 aircraft nine Boeing737s and seven ATR 52-500s to 44 destinations around India. Thisgrowth has happened because of service quality, which began as apart of Jets mission statement, and is now being reinforced at everystage. The airline, has received several awards for its service

performance, and was recently awarded Qimpro gold standard forquality.

Quality, for Jet Airways, means quality for bothinternal and external customers. What appearsokay on the surface may not be so when one lookscloser. And for the past three years, the airline hasbeen on a mission to redefine the quality standardsit had set for itself. The current quality standards,their measurement and procedures are a byproduct of Jets mission statement. It is the qualityof its service that distinguishes it from otherairlines.

Its sole objective is customer satisfaction and be one stepahead to provide the best. It wants to be perceived as a worldclass airline. Though it would have been enough for the airline tomerely try and be better than its main rival Indian airlines, itconsciously benchmarks itself with the best in the world KLM,Emirates and Singapore Airlines, among others.


Jet Airways basic credo

is simple: There is

nothing like perfection indelivering service. It

can always be improved.

Therefore, nothing issmall enough, and this

message comes through

right from the top.

Mohit Sen, 28, a textile trader, has been a frequent flier on Jet Airways, ever since he took over

the reins of the family business five years ago. He calls it a smarter alternative to the domestic

carrier. More so in the last couple of years. Without elaborating, he says that flying Jet today ismuch better experience compared to a couple of years ago. Though he cant pinpoint any

particular reason, hes a satisfied customer. There are obviously many more like Sen.


30/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM

Managing moments of truth at Jet Airways:

At the core of the Jet quality focus are standards backed by qualityprocesses: there are norms laid out for all areas of customerexperience, from reservation to check in, departure, in flight services,arrival and post flight. Whenever there is negative customer feedback,or there are in- house service detractors, the feedback is mappedagainst set process to check where the non-compliance happened. Thisis then remedied by communication and training where needed. Ifthe processes are complied with and there is still customerdissatisfaction, or where standards are loose cross functioningteams are set up to tighten them and redraw the processes.

Underpinning the whole system is the foolproof way in whichJet monitors quality. It happens at three levels:

Formal customer feedback through Service MonitorQuestionnaire

Internal feedback and critical comments from detractors


Queue management

Check in

CP lounge

Departure lounge

Departure ramp

Baggage screening

Security

Arrival ramp

In flight service

City side ticketingArrival lounge

Reservation / tele check in

CustomerExperience


31/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM

Direct quality audits at periodic intervals. A jet airways auditat periodic interval .It has a system in place for auditing

service on a continuous basis.

Plans are a foot to increase the frequency of audits to iron out qualitydiscrepancies between various airports. The audits tend to be detailed,

for example, when check in counters are audited, the audit checks atleast 26 parameters for compliance with and signage, and going tostaff grooming, greeting passengers by name, and the total time takento process passengers waiting in a queue. In a service industry, qualityis subjective and that has to be improved upon constantly. A numberof different departments have to mesh together and service deliveryhas to live up to perceived customer expectation. And an airline onlyflies passengers, while the rest of the countless functions areoutsourced. At Jet the service quality wing steps in to figure outproblem areas before they become major customer irritants. They takethe role of a critical customer .Its a case of challenging theorganization and the environment. Quality cannot be checked in aservice industry, the departments have to know the standards.

Gap analysis:

Flawless quality all the time is also a near impossibility in the serviceindustry. There is always a gap between what a customer expects andwhat can be delivered .The trick, though, is to keep the gap as narrowas possible, so that the gap between customer perception and thecompanys perception about what needs to be delivered is constantlynarrowed.Three years ago, the quality department adopted a gap analysis modelto analyze quality of service issues at different levels. With two vicepresidents overseeing the exercise, about five departments cameunder the quality/service purview. These included airport service, in-flight service, catering, marketing and sales.

The gap analysis is done from the points of view of both thecustomer (the user) and the airline (the provider).


For example, at Mumbai airport, service quality is physically verified from 4.30 am

to 10 pm by two people working shifts. Their job is to move X-rays to passenger

queues and other areas of customer interaction to check for problem areas and takecorrectives. The overall quality is audited at the six metro airports every quarter, and

twice a year at airports with four flights a day. For the remaining airports, audits are

done on an ad hoc basis.


32/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM

It takes into account both the internal customer (peoplewithin the organization) and the external customer(the traveler).

With role playing exercises Jet identified the expectations

gap that exists between customer and provider, and thosethat could crop up in future. This helped the qualitydepartment chart out the service quality specifications to aidservice delivery.

The largest gap not expectedly lies between customerexpectations and management perceptions aboutthese expectations(see gap 1 in chart).The key tonarrowing this gap lies in reducing four others: the gapbetween management perceptions of customer expectationsand service quality specifications (gap 2),the differencebetween these specifications and actual service delivery (gap

3), the effective communication of this service delivery tocustomers (gap 4), and the difference between whatcustomers expect and what they perceive they are getting(gap 5).


GAP 5

Word of the mouth

communicationsPersonal needs Past experience

Expected service

Perceived service

Service quality

Service qualityspecifications

Management

perceptions of

customer expectations

Externalcommunication

to customers

Provider

Customer

GAP 4

GAP 2

GAP 1

GAP 3


33/42

While the Jet Airways

business model talks about

the requisites for safe flying

a modern generation aircraft,

young fleet (average age: 30yrs), wider coverage of India;

it also harps on up gradation

and innovation of productsand services and

understanding customer

needs.

TRAVEL & TOURISM

Action taken: To make the job simpler, Jet decided to tackle the entire service

cycle both on the ground and in flight. The ground rules meant

involving people at every stage, right from the time a travelerenters the airport to fly Jet till he disembarks. It includesreservations and tele check in, city side ticketing, baggagescreening, queue management and right down to arrival lounge.The logic was simple: if you focused on the small things, thebig things came right.

Just how small are the issues could get wasevident from how Jet decided that fingerprintsshould not be seen on the cabin overheadstorage flap.

There werent really any complaints aboutthis, but Jets quality cell, consisting of 11people, decided it could do without shabbyimprints. So today, when the 10 cleaners geton board after every flight turnaround, theyhave one more job to do. Jet claims to be theonly Indian carrier that deepcleans thecabins after every flight.

These small things count when we see it in the context of

heightening competition in the airline industry. Little wonder thenthat Jet is trying to leverage its brand equity hinged on quality andon time performance.

In recent months, it has focused on two things-the visible aspectof in-flight service and the quality of its product, its purchasinghabits and quality of consumable service served on board. All this toensure a defect free product.

Priced at the premium end, Jet is currently undercut on fares byIndian Airlines. This means Jet has to offer value in other areas tomake up for the price disadvantaged.

Food above all:

Food was one area the Airline decided it could not afford to lose out on.To provide a first class meal the business traveler on Jet had beengetting plated service for quite some time on. This meant that instead



34/42

For example: A passenger was late in catching his flight. When hereached the security gate huffing and puffing, a polite Jet Airwaysofficial informed him that he had missed flight. Now, airlineofficials are taught to smile and be polite to passenger. In thiscase, however, a smile was inappropriate since a passengermissing his flight would be irritated by excessive smiling when theneed was for empathetic listening. This feedback from Jet stafferwas useful in helping counter staff realize that you need differentstrokes for different people at different times.

TRAVEL & TOURISM

of the earlier pre packaged meal, which had the main course and thedessert on the tray, he now gets his two (break fast) to three courses(lunch and dinner) dressed in perfection in Noritake crockery. Until sixmonths ago, Jet used crockery sourced from a local manufacturer. TheIndian customer has traveled a lot and is familiar with foreign airlines.This meant providing international standards on a domestic airline. Butcustomer satisfaction also means attending to customers on theground. Thus, Jet has adopted a system of having a floor walker,now re-designated queue manager, to keep an eye on howcustomers are served at the airport.

The floor walker monitors the entire gamut of services rangingfrom attitude of staff, appearance of counters and assistancewith baggage and queue management. Employees say that it isan organizational self assessment. It is done to see how the staffperceives itself. This was one lesson learnt from discreet

observation at the counters.

Soft issues like the example above sometimes make a differenceto the customer. But just in case anything has been missed, Jetmakes it appoint to seek feedbacks regularly from thepassengers. From the beginning, Jet has been offering ServiceMonitor Questionnaires (SMQ) for passengers to fill outduring the flight. Passengers were asked to rate Jet ontopics ranging from accessibility at the airport to cabincrew behavior, food and the overall experience of flying

Jet. In the beginning as there was no pressure to get consumerfeedback the staff didnt take it seriously. Today thesequestionnaires are mandatory on every flight. Not only is thestaff encouraged to proactively distribute the forms, it is alsoannounced on the overhead speakers .In March; Jet received38,000 responses; a year ago it was less than half that number.Jet uses these SMQs to raise the quality bar. If they get 60%excellent rating in one area, the crew is asked to get 70% the



35/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM

next time. It is through the assiduous monitoring of customerfeedback and complaints that Jet keeps setting itself a movingtarget for improvements.

THE TOUR-OPERATOR PRODUCT



36/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM

Core product

The basic

be

nef

it

Packaged tour which includes travel

guidance, planning, pricing, accommodation,

local travel and sight seeing

FormalThe expected

Insurance, airport pick-ups, foreign

exchange assistance (Raj Travels), airline

ticketing, safe travel guide, branding the

product for easy identity. Eg SOTC, Cox &

Kings, etc

Augmented

In addition to

the expected

benefit

Payment option travel now, pay later

(on the basis of bank affiliations), tourism on

credit card (Raj Travels); premium offers

special package deals; guarantees in

case of cancellation of flights, tour failures,

bad weather, etc; loyalty schemes;

weather reports of different countries,

with month wise maximum, minimum

temperature, humidity and rain;

recommended tours for every age groupand interests; take away gifts (souvenirs)

- at the end of every tour

Future

Beyond the

usual,

serendipity

(pleasant

surprise)

Make your own package (customized

packages); free photo sessions; video

shooting of the entire trip by the tour

operators; incentives with every tour

package, one more, at half the price.



37/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM

The Service Triangle

Example: Raj TravelsExternal marketing:

This tour operator promises the customers through advertisements innewspapers, handbills and pamphlets, internet sites to offer the finestquality product with a premium price.

Raj Travels claims to be the First and Pioneer to operate tours toAustralia and Mauritius.

It also takes active and prominent interest in formation of TAFI (TravelAgents Federation of India) and now their CMD is also the President ofTAFI.Raj Travels is a holder of Top Agents Awards from many airlinessuch as British Airways, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines and Amadeus.It also conducts US and UK VISA seminar at Mumbai, Ahmedabad andPune for students.

Customers:

Customers include individuals, couples, families, groups (small andbig)

Internal marketing:

Raj Travels takes efforts to assure that the providers Tour guides,Tour Directors and Tour Managers are professionals and well trained sothat they help the company to keep the promises.It imparts training to its providers so that the best is passed on to the

customers. Training is given in the fields of: Inter-personal communication, Motivation, Handling crisis, etc.

Also, all the required documents and important items are madeavailable to the tour directors to ensure a comfy tour.



38/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM

They have based their cooks at the hotels (in Europe and South Africa)to cook the delicious Indian meals and serve right in the hotelsrestaurant under great ambience and atmosphere.Thus the tour operator enables promises hoping that these would beenough for successful transactions.

Interactive marketing:The providers (tour guides) of Raj travels are the most importantpeople as they are in constant and direct contact with the tourist. Thetourist will have the perception of high quality if the experience withtour guide, manager and director is of the highest quality.These tour directors ensure that at all places the customer experiencesdelight by coordinating all the activities and events and giving leastdistress to him.

HOTEL INDUSTRY

Hotels form one of the most important support service that affect thearrival of tourist to a country. The major players in the industry areIndian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL) operating under the Tajbrand, the Oberoi, Oriental Hotels, Hotel Leela Venture and theAshoka chain of hotels, owned and operated by the IndianTourism Development Corporation (ITDC).

SWOT ANALYSIS



39/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM

STRENGTH A very wide variety of hotels is present

in the country that can fulfill thedemand of the tourists.

There are international players in themarket such as Taj and Oberoi. Thus,the needs of the international touriststravellers are seen to while they are ona visit to India.

Manpower costs in the Indian hotelindustry is one of the lowest in theworld. This provides better margins forIndian hotel industry.

India offers a readymade touristdestination with the resources it has.

Thus the magnet to pull customersalready exists.

WEAKNESSES .The cost of land in India is high at 50%

of total project cost as against 15%abroad. This acts as a major deterrent to

the Indian hotel industry. The hotel industry in India is heavily

staffed. Indian hotel companies have astaff to room ratio of3:1, this ratio is 1:1for international hotel companies.

In India the expenditure tax, luxury taxand sales tax inflate the hotel bill by over30%. Effective tax in the South EastAsian countries works out to only 4-5%.

Only 58,000 hotel rooms are available inIndia today, which is less than theBangkok hotel capacity.

The services currently offered by thehotels in India are only limited valueadded services.

OPPORTUNITIES Demand between the national and the

inbound tourists can be easily manageddue to difference in the period ofholidays. For international tourists thepeak season for arrival is betweenSeptember to March when theclimatic conditions are suitable where

as the national tourist waits for schoolholidays, generally the summer months.

In the long-term the hotel industry inIndia has latent potential for growth.

This is because India is an idealdestination for tourists as it is the onlycountry with the most diversetopography. For India, the inboundtourists are a mere 0.4% of theglobal figures. This number isexpected to increase at a phenomenalrate thus pushing up the demand for

the hotel industry

THREATS Guesthouses replace the hotels. This is a

growing trend in the west and is nowcatching up in India also, thus divertingthe hotel traffic.

Political turbulence in the area reducestourist traffic and thus the business ofthe hotels. In India examples of the same

are Insurgency in Jammu Kashmir andthe Kargil war.

The economic conditions of a countryhave a direct impact on the earnings inhotel industry. It can seen that thepresent economic slowdown in India hasled to a 51.6% fall in the industryaverage net profits for the secondquarter of the current financial year,2000..



40/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM

The Hotel Product


Core The basic benefit

Serving rooms, food,

kitchen and staff

FormalThe expected

Cleanliness, timely

service, polite and

courteous behavior,

menu availability,

music.

AugmentedIn addition to the

expected benefit

Sparkling floors,

ambience, smiling

employees, music of

choice, Welcome

flowers, welcome drink,,

FutureBeyond the usual,

serendipity

(pleasant surprise)

Cookies in the room,

managers word of

thanks, giving surprise

parties to the guest and

delight the guest. The

emphasis is on

relationship marketing.


41/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM

The Customers of Hotel industry

The customers are the users of the services in the hotel industry.These users belong to different categories visiting hotels with diverseaims and objectives. Thus, it becomes very important for the hotelmarketer to be aware of these different categories and also to knowwhich categories of users form their major potential customer group.The users of the hotels can be categorized as follows:

The users of the hotel come from different regions and segments andwith different culture and attitude. The hotel marketer has to keep inview the variations in these categories and make best of the

strategies to satisfy them.


Users of Hotels

Tourists

Students

Officials

Trade RepresentativesPolitical Representatives

Film StarsMedical representatives

Sportsmen

Domestic

Political Representatives

Trade Representatives

SportsmenTourists

Cultural RepresentativesOfficials

Film Stars

Medical representatives

Foreign


42/42

TRAVEL & TOURISM

For example: Le Royal Meridian, Mumbai

External marketing: the hotel promises through its advertisements in

business magazines and tourism sites to offer an unparalleled luxuriousexperience. It also claims to have standards of finest European hotels with

unadulterated luxury.

Customers: the profile of guests at Le Royal Meridian is Corporate, Individualtravelers, Airline crew and layovers.

Internal marketing: the hotel has efficienthuman resource practices to assurethat the employees (providers) are satisfied and help the hotel to keep the

promises.

Empowerment: the management empowers each and every employee to imparthim with the authority to make decisions. This gives the employees a sense of

belonging and boosts his morale.

Training and development: in the induction and orientation the employee isintroduced to each department and their functions. Integration of all the

departments with the employees department is explained.

Standard operations procedure: each department and employee is instructed

with and trained to perform a standard operations procedure to maintain the qualityof service.

Job rotation: each employee gets an experience to work in all the departments by

regular job rotation. This reduces the fatigue caused due to monotonous workingand brings a new energy and enthusiasm in the employee.

Rewards: the best employee of the month is rewarded who is selected on the basis

of feedback from guests, head of the department, etc.

Interactive marketing: the hotel has no signages in the entire property and

instead there are employees stationed at an equitable distance to escort the

guest. This provides an opportunity to know more about a guests likes andpreferences. Besides, the employees are assigned the job of being

acquainted with the guests profile before his arrival and wear name badges

to encourage personalized interaction .This often delights the guest andmakes him feel special.

Travel and Tourism Services

Documents